(Book Review)

Reviewed by: Virginia Peterson, former church librarian in Rochester, N.Y.

Introduction

Title: Michal: A Novel

Series: The Wives of King David #1

Author: Jill Eileen Smith

Publisher: Revell

Publication Date: March 2009

Format: Print and ebook

Length: 382 Pages

OVERVIEW

Michal was the daughter of Israel’s first king – Saul. She falls in love with the king’s harpist David, who was only a shepherd, but also the one who had been anointed as the future king in place of her brother Jonathan. The book follows their story from their marriage through the years following, up to the point where David has been king for many years and has accumulated many more wives. Along the way are familiar stories from David’s life, such as the fight with Goliath, his flights from Saul, the death of Saul and Jonathan, and David’s uniting of Israel and Judah with Jerusalem as his capital city. Some other episodes of David’s life are not included, because they are presumably in the other books in the series about wives Abigail and Bathsheba.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5)

4 out of 5 stars

Suggested Audience

Teens to adults

Christian Impact

David’s trust in God is often portrayed, along with the occasions that may have led to the writing of certain psalms.

Other Notes:

This book fleshes out the unknown parts of Michal’s story with thoroughly plausible additions, yet remains true to the biblical story. One benefit is seeing what the real time line of David and Michal’s lives would have been, since we don’t get the full sense of time passing in the biblical passages. As is true of biblical fiction when one is already familiar with the story, the emotional impact may be lessened because the events and ending are already known.
The author has also written another trilogy, Wives of the Patriarchs, as well as her most recent one, Daughters of the Promised Land, about other biblical women.

Virginia is a former homeschooling mother. Current activities include quilter, genealogist, and volunteer apologist for Reasons To Believe ministry.

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